Cleaner Playing?

Lately, I have had this problem with playing clean. No matter how slow, or how fast. I could be playing 3 notes on a string, and it would still be sloppy, like other strings would ring out, etc. I've really been trying to play with a metronome to improve my speed. I haven't got past 80bpm because it's not as clean as I would like it to be. Any exercises or anything that might help? Overall tips? Anything? lol

Answer: You suck. Solution: Practice, practice, practice. I didn't get over that hurdle until about a year ago and I have been playing for 4 years although guitar wasn't my primary focus. Just keep working at it.

Answer: You suck. Solution: Practice, practice, practice. I didn't get over that hurdle until about a year ago and I have been playing for 4 years although guitar wasn't my primary focus. Just keep working at it.

Unbelievable.

Look up lessons on right and left hand muting techniques. It would be better if you learnt about it from a dedicated lesson than me typing up how to do it in this thread.

Lately, I have had this problem with playing clean. No matter how slow, or how fast. I could be playing 3 notes on a string, and it would still be sloppy, like other strings would ring out, etc. I've really been trying to play with a metronome to improve my speed. I haven't got past 80bpm because it's not as clean as I would like it to be. Any exercises or anything that might help? Overall tips? Anything? lol

Thanks in advance.

first, stop trying to get "past" any BPM. That's not helping you at all if it's always sloppy. If anything, you're just re-inforcing that sloppiness into habit.

now, back up and figure out exactly what is the problem(s). You don't need a metronome - just play the parts in slow motion so that you can watch and hear everything. Keep doing that until you know what needs to be corrected.Once you know, work on that very slowly until it's consistently perfect and gradually speed up from there.

If this helps... open strings ringing out (or any other imperfection) is not your problem --- that is just the result of whatever your real underlying problem is.That is... something you are habitually doing or failing to do. You see the difference?good luck

If you are in the "Guitar techniques" forum, there's a bunch of threads that stay at the top of the forum whether or not people post in them. They're "stickied" to the top of the forum. (it also says sticky at the start of the thread title)

These are generally the most important threads (ie, rules, FAQs, etc) and it'll save you time and keep you out of trouble if you read em before you post. This applies in any forum, not just this one.

You should try singing along with what you're playing. This will clean up your playing a bit. Forces you to concentrate more on the notes. Sometimes when practicing it's easy to not take every note so seriously. If you have to coordinate singing and playing you'll have to be more focused.

Just to add, check your technique. Make sure all finger and wrist movements are as small as possible. If your fingers move several centimeters away from the fretboard after playing this will slow you down considerably. The only part of the movement that is need to create the sound is the one or 2 millimeters that fingers travel as they press the string down. Anything else is essentially wasted. Similarly check how far your pick moves either side of the string. I'm assuming you are alternate picking(?).

Also check that you are only pressing the string down hard enough to make the note sound cleanly, and no more. A lot of players have too much finger pressure (or tension in general) going on. Movements should feel easy and relaxed. The idea is to train yourself to play in such a way that if you applied any less pressure the notes simply wouldn't sound correctly.

Look up lessons on right and left hand muting techniques. It would be better if you learnt about it from a dedicated lesson than me typing up how to do it in this thread.

Not everybody has to read or go to lessons to develop muting skills. I just learned them by playing certain music I like.I guess im just saying, don't knock his comment because its not a "proper" way to learn something.